One and One Makes Three: Lovewell Coffee

Emily (left) and Andrea Dornbusch say they love welcoming people to both of the Lovewell Tea and Coffee locations, where hospitality comes first

The first day Lovewell Tea and Coffee opened its new shop in Oak View back in May, a woman came in. Andrea Dornbusch greeted her, as she always does, with “How’s your day?” She was stunned by the reply. “The lady says, ‘My husband just died earlier. I need a space to come.”

And that is just what the Dornbusch sisters—Andrea is the elder and Emily isn’t—had envisioned when they opened their first shop in May 2020 in Ventura on the Avenue, north of Stanley Avenue. The sisters wanted it to be what is known as “a third space”—a place to go outside of work and home where you can feel comfortable, welcome and safe.

The concept of hospitality before transaction came to Andrea and Emily when they visited a cousin in Dublin, Ireland. They were intrigued by the coffee culture, with its warm, welcoming ambience. While in Ireland, the sisters heard about the concept of “third spaces”—the first space is home, the second is work or school and the third is where you want to be and hang out. “We thought coffee was the perfect way to go about creating a third space,” says Emily. “Everybody has a spot where they feel comfortable. We want to be that spot.”

So in 2020 the sisters opened up their first—and they thought only—Lovewell Tea and Coffee on Ventura’s Westside, naming it by combining the words love and well. “Our goal is to love people well, even if it just through a cup of tea or coffee,” says Andrea.

The shop was popular, with a bevy of regulars, and that seemed like enough. But when The Local Cup closed recently, it left an empty spot along a small strip mall in Oak View with a doughnut shop on the southern end that abuts the Ojai Valley Ranch Market, and the landlord urged them to open another store there. As 20-plus-year residents of Oak View, they knew the community and its unique diversity. The sisters consulted with family and friends, asking them “Are we insane?” Andrea says.

They made renovations in just a month and a half, which included a rainbow-ish decoration with greens and yellows, a children’s corner with books and toys, a book nook exchange for adults, games and other fun ways to pass the time with friends.

“There is a father and son who have come in here with their portable chessboard that they set up and play,” Andrea says. “We think it’s awesome!”

Then they opened their doors.

“We thought it would be easy and slow. But it was a flash flood,” says Andrea, attributing the deluge to the community responding to their efforts to improve the small downtown North Ventura Avenue Oak View area. The sisters embrace the doughnut shop—KJ Donuts, at the other end of the strip of shops—referring their customers to the amazing breakfast sandwiches and, of course, doughnuts. The shop in turn refers customers to Lovewell for coffee or tea.

Emily focuses on the coffee side of the business, while Andrea specializes in teas. The coffee is from The Well Coffeehouse in Nashville, Tennessee—which imports coffees from around the world trying to benefit the farmers, while also donating their profits to trusted organizations worldwide to provide clean water and sanitation to underserved communities.

“We fell in love with how they use coffee to provide clean water around the world,” says Andrea.

For teas, they found a certified organic producer: Fraser Tea, where three brothers with disparate backgrounds have joined together to create various tea blends, including Irish Breakfast tea, which the sisters feel is necessary.

Pastries are made by Cake Monkey Bakery based in Los Angeles, local bakers Garu Bread and Butter, (a Ventura based cottage bakery that specializes in croissants), and most recently, nearby SunOven Gluten Free Bakery. Of course, there also are those enticing doughnuts just a few doors away.

The Dornbusch sisters wouldn’t go so far as to say that their shop is opposed to social media—after all, they have Instagram and YouTube pages, and WiFi—but it is a place where social interactions tend to be face to face.

“As we get older, this is what we desire: to sit down across the table and talk. It’s cool to watch the world go by,” Emily says.

Lovewell Tea and Coffee
Open 7am to 2pm Mondays through Saturdays
485 N. Ventura Ave., Oak View; and 2271 N. Ventura Ave., Ventura
www.Lovewell-Tea-Coffee.square.site